It is desirable for an air heater for paint stripping to have a compact source of heat so that the heater as a whole is of an overall size that can be easily held in the hand. Because of the temperature of air required for paint stripping and the requirement for a compact source of heat the heating element has to operate at a relatively high temperature and thus the support for the element must be able to withstand the high temperature and also maintain the heating element located in position. While such supports have previously been proposed they have not proved satisfactory from all points of view. In particular the more compact forms of heating element aassembly have not proved economical to manufacture and assemble heating elements to.